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Sunday, 19 January 2014

Success is my only mother-fking option; failure’s not…

Optimism.

When you’re pursuing a dream, I think it’s
pretty safe to say you have to be optimistic. You have to believe there’s a
chance you can succeed, otherwise why are you even trying? That’s what everyone
says, anyway. In reality, though, it’s harder to be optimistic than it looks.
You get hit with rejections, sometimes your creative mind decides to pack up
and leave, and real life often creeps in and steals both your time and your
energy. Sometimes it gets to the point where it’s all you can do not to curl up
in the foetal position and rock back and forth chanting ‘I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this.’ I had one of
those days this week (minus the chanting), and I had to go seeking inspiration
to pull myself out of it. Luckily, I never have to look far. There is
inspiration and beauty everywhere. The trick is to find something that inspires
you to suck up your fears and your doubts and just go for it.

For me, the thing that inspires me the most
(aside from the obvious) are the people who go all in. They do whatever is necessary
in order to make their dreams a reality, even when fear, doubt and failure all
come knocking at their door. I’ll admit to being more than a little jealous of
the people with the courage to do that. It’s no small feat. Imagine all the
fear, doubt, and insecurity. Imagine how much negativity you would be faced
with from people who mean well – statistics about the success rate of people in
the industry you are pursuing, horror stories about people never making it
despite years of trying, grim glimpses into your future as a starving artist
offering to write (paint, sing, dance) for food. I am truly amazed by all the
people who find the courage to stand in the face in all of that and say, “You
know what, I don’t care. I’m doing this.” I want to be one of those people. I’m
getting there, slowly. But sometimes we all need a little push, so with that in
mind, here are just a few people who inspire me to do whatever it takes to
become the person I want to be:

Kurt
Cobain

For those of you who don’t know (and I’ll
try not to be horrified), Kurt Cobain was the lead singer, guitarist, and
primary songwriter in the band Nirvana. Before Nirvana’s success, Kurt never
had or wanted a ‘real’ job (that is, a job that could lead to a career) because
he only wanted to make music. He worked in a series of low paid jobs and even lived
in his car for a while because he couldn’t afford to pay rent. There’s
something beautiful in that.

(Source:
Kurt Cobain: The Journals. Side note – This a fascinating read and I highly
recommend it. At first I thought it was disrespectful to read someone else’s
journals, but he wanted them read. He said so in the journals.)

Eminem

Much like Kurt Cobain, Eminem worked in a
series of low paid jobs while trying to break into the music world. He
struggled with poverty and personal issues, but he didn’t let anything deter
him from pursuing his dreams even though practically everyone around him was continually
telling him he would never amount to anything.

(Source:
Various interviews and the movie 8 Mile, which is based on Eminem’s life. If
you haven’t seen 8 Mile, you should. It’s right up there with Artifact on my
inspirational films list [though let’s be honest, you can’t really compete with
Artifact])

Walt
Disney

When he was young man, Walt Disney was
fired from the newspaper Kanas City Star for not being creative enough. He then
acquired an animation studio called ‘Laugh-O-Gram’ which he later drove into
bankruptcy. Still he kept on trying and moved to Hollywood with his brother,
where they created their own cartoon series, which was the beginning of you
know, Walt Freaking Disney Studios.

We all know this story, but I’m going to
ahead and include it anyway because I just love it. Harry Potter was rejected
for ten years by multiple publishing
houses before it was finally picked up by Bloomsbury. It is now the one of the
most successful book series ever. Like ever, even more so than 50 Shades of Twilight
Fan Fiction Grey. If that’s not a reason to keep trying then I don’t know
what is.

(Source:
Pretty much every article written about JK mentions this. Mischief Managed.)

Dallas
Buyers Club (Written by Craig Borten and Melisa
Wallack)

The script for Dallas Buyers Club was rejected 137 times over 20 years before it was finally picked
up in 2012. It is now nominated for a total of SIX Academy Awards, and has won like a gazillion awards already.
(And I do mean a gazillion. Certain members of the cast are winning awards
almost every day at this point…/cough :p)

Jared Leto. Again, we all know this story
(and if you don’t, you haven’t been paying attention) but I’m going to include
because, well, dreams = Jared in my mind. I can’t think of one without the
other. Jared dropped out of high school, went to art school to become a painter
(because he wanted to be a painter or a drug dealer, as you do), dropped out of
that, went to film school to become a director, thought he’d have a better
chance to become a director if he was an actor first, and now is Jared Freaking
Leto: Rock God, Golden Globe Winner (SQUEE!!) and Academy Award Nominee (and
let’s be honest…That Oscar already has his name on it.)

Despite proving himself again and again, he
is STILL ridiculed for wanting to both act and make music (because apparently
you shouldn’t be allowed to succeed in both), yet he ignores all the people who
try to bring him down and does whatever his heart leads him to do (which
includes acting, directing, making music and creating and owning four companies*).
That’s admirable on a level that I cannot even begin to explain.

And he just won the Critic's Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actor yesterday, too :3

Shannon
Leto

Before Thirty Seconds To Mars, Shannon was
working construction jobs, getting into trouble with the law, battling his
personal demons and didn’t really know what he wanted to do with his life. He
saw music as his saving grace, and put his entire heart and soul into making it
happen. He has said a number of times that without Mars, he would either be
locked up or dead.

(Source:
See above.)

Tomo
Milicevic

Tomo had pretty much given up his dream of
making music for a living, and had made plans to sell his gear because he didn’t
want any reminders of his broken dream. The very next day he got the call to
audition for Thirty Seconds To Mars, a band he already loved*** He was so
certain he would get in the band that he bought a one way ticket to LA, then
told Shannon and Jared that they should stop looking because he was going to be
their new band member.

And now he is.

(Source:
See above.)

These are just a few examples out of dozens
of people I could write about. People who did whatever was necessary in order
to be great. I want to be one of those people. I want to know that even if (when)
I fail a hundred times, I will keep moving towards were I want to be. You don’t
get want you wish for – you get what you work for. So on the days that the
weight of what I want threatens to consume me – or consume you – let’s just
take a deep breath, and remember we have the power to become anything and
everything we’ve always wanted to be. Every single person you admire started
somewhere. They aren’t special, or lucky, or blessed with the power to snap
their fingers and make things happen: they worked
for what they wanted. Granted, some people do seem to fall into success,
but I’m not so interested in them. I like to hear about the people who want
something so bad that they to whatever it takes to get it. Those are the people
I admire. Those are the people I want to be like. Those are the people who give
me the will to succeed. And I will succeed. I have to believe I will. After
all, success is my only option; failure’s not.